Nothing Else Matters
by Night's Fang
Summary: For what they share isn't tangible. But as long as they have they're own little paradise and they know who they truly are, and what they have, they exist living in stolen moments. ReccaFuuko oneshot.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights of the manga/anime Flame of Recca. Not the story, not the characters, not the psychic devices. Nobiyuki Anzai does. Nor do I own the lyrics to the song 'Nothing Else Matters'. Metallica does. If I did I'd be filthy rich.

**A/N:** Got this little plot-bunny in my head after watching one of the reruns and let me tell you it's hard to concentrate on doing another story till you get it out. So hence this weird little one-shot.

_Italics – thoughts, memories, flashbacks, lyrics._

'_Italics' – specifically thoughts inside flashbacks and memories._

**Summary:** As long as they know and understand who they are and what they have, nothing else matters. Not saying anything more.

**Pairings:** Fuuko/Recca (Main one here! You decide in what way you infer it though)

* * *

_So close no matter how far,  
__Couldn't be much more from the heart,  
__Forever trusting who we are,  
__And nothing else matters.  
__-"Nothing Else Matters", Metallica._

What they had wasn't tangible.

Neither could it be explained by any amounts of logic, reason, or theories.

Because in all reality, no such words exist, that can fully depict even lightly, the depth of what they share without being misunderstood.

They share an intimate bond, unseen, unheard, untouchable, and unexplainable to everyone around but themselves, bound tightly by a thin, fragile yet unbreakable and unseen red thread pulling them into each other, that it remains a miracle that they are still entirely separate entities.

And that's the way they like it. Away from the eyes of cynics, hypocrites, and plain fools who will never understand, and hence never accept what it is, as it is, without trying to label it with something their worldly minds can comprehend, and thus demeaning it.

They cared for each other, wanted each other's happiness, loved each other, and only saw the good for the other. But the depth of their feelings was different from what others thought it to be.

He was a raging fire, dangerous, untamed, and yet full of warmth.

She was the wind, gentle, tender, yet deadly at the very same time.

So different and yet so alike.

They could destroy each other or build each other.

They let time choose for them and it chose the latter and helped fate bind that red thread around them.

They liked what they have and the way it is, and strive to keep it away from the worlds prying eyes, for they're afraid that once found out, the greedy world will take it away from them, like it does to many other precious articles, and leave them bare, hollow, and superficial like the rest of the world.

Oh yes they are afraid. For it is this bond that means the world to them, that keeps them from being lonely and lost although surrounded by happy faces laughing with them, keeps them sane and rational in the midst of the ever present insanity, keeps them sated in a greedy and gluttonous world.

They mean too much to each other to let the other go. And if it's left in their hands they wont let each other go.

"_Class I'd like you to meet a new friend." The kindergarten teacher said as she looked at the group of four year olds she was teaching. "Her name's Fuuko Kirasawa. Be nice and polite to her. Come in Fuuko-chan!"_

_A four year old girl dressed in beige shorts a pale green shirt and wearing sneakers came in. She was the most unusual girl the four-year-olds had ever seen. She had cute elfin features, pale skin, messy short violet hair – a rare oddity – and the most enchanting stormy greyish sapphire eyes. She was cute but really unusual looking. She bowed timidly in a very well behaved and polite manner that a four year old wouldn't be expected to have and said softly, "Ohayo minna-san."_

_The teacher seemed delighted with her. "Fuuko-chan I'm very sorry but we have only one seat empty in our class. I hope you don't mind." She said a bit sadly as she pointed to the last bench in the back row near the window completely deserted save for one raven hair cobalt eyed four year old boy who sat away from everyone else and was looking at the teacher with the most bored look the young girl had ever seen._

_Nodding politely she walked to her new seat amidst many hushed whispers, stifled giggles, and whispered taunts being thrown at her about her strange ways and looks, while the teacher had begun giving her full attention to the roll call for the day. Before she had even reached her seat, unshed tears were already glistening in her eyes. 'Everyone's making fun of me again!' she thought sadly._

_The moment she took her seat she hid her face in a book and pretended to intently be engrossed in colouring, till a voice made her look up._

"_Hi! I'm Recca Hanabishi! Nice to meet you Fuuko-chan!" her raven haired partner said. 'Is she an angel like the ones dad tells me about? The ones that come into your life to make people happy? She looks just like the way dad said they should look like.'_

"_Nice to meet you too Hanabishi-san." She said politely her eyes dull. She could still hear the jeers and taunts being thrown at her. 'I wish they would stop laughing at me.'_

"_Eh? Don't call me that!" he said waving his hands in front of his face. "You're too polite! Use my name!" the boy said. 'Don't worry! They'll stop.'_

"_Gomen nasai. My mother always told me to speak that way to people I just met. She told me I should use their names once I really get to know them." Fuuko apologised. 'You're just saying that. You're probably laughing at me as well.'_

"_Well it doesn't work that way around here." Recca explained. 'Don't worry I wont.'_

"_All right then. Recca-kun?" she tried. 'Promise?'_

"_That's better!" the raven haired boy said grinning widely. 'I promise!'_

_She smiled happily and turned back to her work while the raven haired boy watched her colour. 'Yep! She's really an angel.'_

They were always alone, till they met each other and let fate start binding that fragile unbreakable red thread around them.

And when it started happening they accepted it as it was, with a maturity that children as young as them were not supposed to have. Just like they weren't supposed to be cast out away from the others.

"_Recca! Look my mom got me a little pet kitty! And he's just like you! He even has the same shade of blue yes like yours! I named him Phantom." a five year old Fuuko squealed delightedly as she dragged the boy to her backyard the moment he entered her house, to show him her new pet. They stopped just next to the clothesline to see a tiny kitten with dark midnight blue fur playing with a cat toy. And he did have eyes the same colour as Recca's._

"_Well?" she asked eagerly. 'Do you like him?'_

"_He isn't that great. He seems all puny and weak." The boy grunted. 'So your replacing me now, huh?'_

"_Maybe he is now, but he'll be a strong cat one day! And then he'll chase you away every time you trouble me!" she said. 'No baka, I could never replace you. I just want you to like my new friend.'_

"_Yeah, yeah all right! Let's play now, I'm getting bored." The boy grumbled. 'Seems like you are.'_

"_Fine!" she said annoyed. 'Think what you want to I'm not ever going to replace you. Jealous freak!' She glared at him before walking back into the house._

"_Be that way!" he yelled grudgingly as he sat down on the grass. He glared at the kitten._

They had found solace and understanding in each other. A deep solace and understanding. And with each other they could bear the cruelty that their own peers put them through for no reason that they could understand other than that they were different from the rest somehow.

And since they couldn't fit in with everyone else they began building a place for themselves. A paradise where no one would bother them.

And it bound them closer.

"_Phantom!" the young girl sobbed a month later looking at the tiny mound of dirt under which her kitten had been buried. Fuuko had found him dead that afternoon surrounded by pebbles and rocks and three bulky boys who ran away soon; after she returned home a bit late from school and couldn't stop crying. 'I'm going to be all alone again.'_

_She felt a hand gently on her shoulder and looked behind to see a bruised and dirt covered Recca holding a bunch of flowers out for her in his scrapped hand._

"_For you." The boy said a bit red faced as he thrust the flowers into her. 'Don't cry please!'_

"_But what happened to you?" she asked. 'I can't stop.'_

"_I beat up those bullies who killed your kitten. I got a few scrapes myself." The boy replied his cheeks still reddening. 'Please don't cry! Angels aren't supposed to cry!'_

"_You did?" she asked blushing lightly. 'But why?'_

"_Yeah sure did!" Recca replied. 'Because I'll always be here for you. Angels don't deserve to be alone.'_

_She launched herself at him on hearing this and buried her face into his chest before looking up at him smiling a bit. 'Thank you.'_

_The boy rubbed his nose in light embarrassment, before hugging the girl back and kissing her forehead. 'No problem!'_

_They broke the hug and she jovially challenged the boy to a race till her kitchen._

They could comfort each other. And they could find comfort in one another.

When she was sad, he would comfort her. And when he was sad she would comfort him.

And their tiny little paradise began to grow. And shoots started to spring out, and grow into forests.

And the act began.

"_I can't do it, I give up!" she said slumping on the ground. 'It's too hard.'_

"_Give up?" the boy questioned. 'No it isn't.'_

_She looked up at him and huffed, "Yeah I give up! I'll never learn how to fight!" 'Yes it is! I'm not as strong as you! I can never be as strong as you!'_

"_You will. Tell you what you continue practising and one day when you can finally beat me then I'll be your own personal ninja and make you my princess. Then you can boss me around to go and kick whoever's ass you want me too, and I'll have to do it besides obey your every other command." Recca said grinning. 'Of course you're strong. You're stronger than me. I know you are! Because I can't be strong without you.'_

"_Really?" she asked eyebrows raised. 'Do you really think so?'_

"_Sure! But then again that is if you can beat me and that is very difficult for someone as weak as you." he replied grinning. 'Yes I do.'_

"_What did you say? Me?! Weak?! In your dreams Hanabishi! I'll beat your prissy ass!" she yelled red faced getting up and swinging at him. 'Thanks.'_

"_In your dreams Kirasawa." He taunted back. ' You're Welcome! Now watch where you kick!'_

They could understand each other without actually speaking. No words were needed between them.

To them, words were part of the act. To seem normal and like everyone else to the outside world. To keep them away from their little growing paradise, where they were free.

And flowers began to bloom, bathing the area in pastels.

"_Fuuko! Where are you?" Recca called._

"_Anou… er…I'll be there in a sec." She called back._

_He grumbled as he waited for her. And she came hurrying to the living room her hair pinned up, wearing – what would have once been – a white shirt stained with different colours, and baggy black cargos. There was paint all over her face and hands as well._

"_Gomen! I must look like a total mess right now!" Fuuko said laughing nervously averting her eyes. 'Why do you always have such bad timing?'_

"_Yes you do! And I'm interested to know what caused it." He asked. 'What are you trying to hide?'_

"_Oh just this and that. Cleaning up the place. You know my neat-freak tendency kicked in." She said laughing nervously again and not looking him straight in his eyes at all. 'You don't need to know yet.'_

"_Really?" he asked amused. 'You're a bad liar. Angels can't lie.'_

"_Yeah! And when you rang the bell I got a start and spilled paint over me." she said hastily. 'I'm not lying!'_

_He raised an eyebrow. 'About your neat-freak tendency no. But about what you were doing yes.'_

"_Oh all right! It was supposed to be a surprise for you damn it! But you can see it!" she said raising her hands in defeat while he smirked triumphantly and followed the grumbling girl into one of the unused rooms in her small yet luxurious cottage. He let out a gasp of awe when he saw what the girl had been hiding._

_In the middle of the room stood a huge wet portrait drying in the mild sunlight Fuuko allowed in through the high window. It was a landscape of – what appeared to be – a feudal Japan forest during the night after an evening rain, complete with a river and waterfall. Every tiny detail had been taken into account and done with perfection. The barks of the various trees ranged from dead, to gnarled and clawed, to slightly rough, to completely smooth and fresh looking, differentiating the older trees from the newer ones. Each leaf of the foliage seemed to be real, painted in different hues of green and yellow, some sparkling with tiny drops of water, and under the effect of the light almost all the leaves seemed to be moving under a light breeze. The river and waterfall sparkled and glistened under the effect of the light making it seem that it was truly flowing in the moonlight. And there just by the river bank was a ninja clad in the normal uniform for ninjas dinking from the clear river._

_Fuuko had seriously taken a lot of pain for her latest painting._

_It was a master piece. And she had done it for him._

"_You see, when you told me that you were going to revamp your room adding all those ninja things you like I thought that maybe you'd like this. I was just putting the finishing touches." She said. 'I really wanted you to see it after it was done.'_

"_It's beautiful. Thanks." He replied. 'You're an amazingly talented angel, do you know that?'_

_She blushed because of the spoken and unspoken compliment._

"_So why did you come here?" she asked. 'Change subject please.'_

"_Fought with my dad as usual. I thought I'd come here. You always have something to do." He said. 'I just really wanted to hear you play the piano.'_

"_Ah!" she said in her usual manner walking out of the room with him beside her, towards the music room. 'Come on then!'_

They could read each other without even trying. They just knew each other that well.

They knew what the other desired, wanted, needed, when, and why. And hence, they stopped at nothing to make the other happy.

And the blooming flowers began to fully blossom in their paradise.

"_So now your ninja offer is open to everyone in school huh?" she asked, stormy sapphire eyes mocking him. He knew she was hurt. 'I thought it was only for me.'_

"_Of course it is. I'm popular and a great fighter! Who wouldn't want me as their bodyguard?" He said pompously. 'It was. I don't know how it got out but now I can't get out of it.'_

"_Hah! Yeah right! You just wait Hanabishi. I'll beat the crap out of you and make you my slave." She guaranteed. 'Fine then I'll win you properly the hard way and pull you back where you belong.'_

"_Let's see! I don't think I'll ever lose to someone as weak as you." He boasted. 'Thanks.'_

They could see what lay behind each other's façade without even trying.

The façade's they had put up for the world before they had even met each other.

And they knew how to shatter the others mask.

Which is the reason; they distanced themselves from the selfish world.

"_So this is your Hime, is she?" she asked._

_She walked up to the brunette and slapped her hard. "Doesn't seem that strong to me." She said as he stepped in between them glaring at her. Cobalt blue met stormy sapphire in an even gaze._

"_Don't you bring her into this!" he growled._

"_So I was right. She didn't defeat you. You're just infatuated with her." She mocked coolly her stormy sapphire eyes cold like ice. 'So you've replaced me. And you're now keeping secrets from me.'_

_He seemed taken aback and his cheeks turned red. But she left before he could answer._

They knew what it felt like to be hurt and hence tried their level best not to hurt one another. But even they were human and hence all humans were prone to mistakes, they were too.

Maybe it was because they were afraid. Afraid that if they let someone else in, then their paradise would be taken away. And then the forests would be cut down, and the beautiful flowers trampled upon, till the paradise turned into a wasteland.

_He watched in horror as the tornado she created engulfed her, blocking her from his view. That psychic device Shadow gave her was going to kill her and he had to do something fast._

_When the idea popped into his mind he acted upon it immediately without thinking. He didn't have time to. Fuuko's life was at stake! He jumped as high as he could towards the centre of the tornado and thrust his flame at the wind towards the device breaking it. The spell was immediately removed and Fuuko was back to normal. Albeit with a few scrapes and without her clothes, but that was quickly solved by Domon's jacket._

_He turned around to search for Shadow, hell bent on making her pay, but she had disappeared already. Turning back to the violet haired girl he let their gazes linger for a moment longer. 'I'm sorry.'_

'_It's all right. I was acting stupid anyway. I should've told you first.'_

'_Nah! I don't rule your life after all.'_

'_I missed you.'_

'_Same here.'_

'_Give my Hime a chance?'_

_She smiled before collapsing against Domon._

But they're quick to forgive each other because they need each other. For they were too young to have the burdens and the superficialities of the world forced upon them, and though truthfully they never wanted it, they knew it would eventually be pushed on to them and being with one another help ease the burden.

All they really wanted was to stay in their little imaginary paradise they had created for themselves and stay and mature into what they were truly meant to be. To transform from the young caterpillars to the mature beautiful butterflies as they were supposed to without letting the selfish world outside mould and shape their cocoons. They would protect each other's cocoons and let the other mature, never endangering the other.

"_You guys?" he asked stunned. 'Why are you here?'_

"_You didn't think that we'd abandon Yanagi, did you? She's our friend as well." She said. 'To help.'_

"_But." He said. 'You'll be in danger.'_

"_No buts. We're in this together. Kurei needs to get his ass kicked." She cut him. 'So will you.'_

_He glared at her. __'You could die. I don't want you to.__' _

___She glared back evenly, __'So could you, and I don't want it either.__' _

_He sighed and she followed._

And slowly as more obstacles came, causing their separate cocoons to go closer till they started merging into one. And then they were more attuned to the other than before, like a sixth sense, a familiar tug at the back of their heads.

And the obstacles went finally allowing the two butterflies to emerge. Mature and beautiful, and ready to leave their paradise but not each other.

After all no matter what they needed each other.

For he was still a raging fire, dangerous, untamed and full of warmth.

And she was still the wind, gentle, tender and yet deadly.

Fire needs the winds gentle caress to stay alive, and to spread it's warmth.

Wind needs the fire for it needs something to help and take care off.

And fate and time still refused to break the red string that bound them together.

He would still be Recca Hanabishi, and she would still be Fuuko Kirasawa.

He looked at her and smiled as they watched the sunset together, _I'll stay by your side always angel._

She returned the smile leaning against his shoulder, _And I'll never leave you, either._

And so, the world around them years later would still give what they had it's usual demeaning names and tried to make sense of it with their logic, some incorrectly deeming them as good friends, others even more incorrectly them as lovers. But they were neither.

At the end of the day, when stripped bare of everything, they were just once upon a time two lonely children who had lived together in two different worlds, one a fantasy paradise, the other the cold reality, and forged a strange connection, and found a reason and way to live through it.

What they had was beyond all lines of perception.

But it was existent, binding them tightly with an unseen, seemingly fragile, yet unbreakable red thread that it was a miracle that they were still two separate entities.

But they were. And they were aware of who and what they were.

And as long as they knew that to one Recca Hanabishi, and another Fuuko Kirasawa, nothing else mattered.

For they knew the relationship they had wasn't tangible.

And that was the way it was supposed to be.

* * *

**A/N:** There finally done. Now I can finally go to sleep. 

I know I know it was weird but give me a break, insane plot-bunny not allowing me to sleep. So you have a plot-bunny drive, sleep deprived zombie typing this out for five hours straight. 

Anyway leave me a note what you thought. It would really help to know that at least someone bothered reading this thing. At least I'd feel that my one day's sleep didn't go to waste. Flames are welcome.

I hope silent readers get the same treatment with their fictions like what they're doing to me.

Anyway I need sleep. So Ciao.


End file.
